Books break even in Week 8
By Matty Simo
VegasInsider.com
LAS VEGAS – One would think the result of Sunday’s Week 8 AFC matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts would have turned out pretty good for sportsbooks with the home team sitting as an underdog and bettors moving the visitor from a 3-point road favorite to -4.5 just before kickoff. But that was not the case at The Wynn, where Executive Director of Race & Sports Operations Johnny Avello said his book broke about even with the Steelers routing the Colts, 51-34.
“Actually, the Colts game was a balanced game for us,” Avello said. “We had some people taking back the 4.5 for pretty big money late. So that game balanced out ok.”
“Balanced out” obviously was not the best-case scenario for The Wynn, but on a day like Sunday, things could have been worse. Two other Week 8 games featuring AFC North teams fell on the right and wrong side for the house, with bettors getting the best of the book on the Cleveland Browns and losing on the Baltimore Ravens, who opened as 3-point road underdogs but closed -3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincinnati held off Baltimore 27-24 with Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton scoring the game-winning touchdown with 57 seconds remaining after surrendering the lead a little more than three minutes earlier. The Ravens saw the public back them more than any other team in Week 8 and ended up getting swept by Cincy, also losing the season opener as a 1-ponit home favorite, 23-16.
“Cincinnati was a good game for us,” Avello said. “From top to bottom, it might be the best division in football, competitive-wise anyway.”
The Browns turned in an opposite result for The Wynn, beating up the Oakland Raiders 23-13 in one of the ugliest games of the day both from a watching and wagering perspective. On Friday, Avello had said he thought this was going to be one of Oakland’s best chances to get a victory. As it turned out, the Raiders remained winless on the season and failed to cover the spread for the third time in four games.
“The Raider game, we opened 7 and closed 7, but the result was bad for us,” Avello said. “The Raiders are just a disaster sometimes. It feels like there’s just no game plan, no discipline, the fundamentals are out the window. I feel bad for this kid Carr because he’s a rookie in there, and you can see he’s trying. But he’s probably in the wrong system, there’s no one there to guide him along. It’s a tough spot to be in. It’s just like one catastrophe after another with them.
“If you’re betting on them, you’re going to be life and death. I thought it was a great spot for them, and looking back they probably should have stayed within the 7. You just can’t continuously make the same mistakes week after week.”
Other bad results included the Minnesota Vikings beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-13 in overtime as 1.5-point road favorites after opening +2.5 and the New England Patriots (-6), Miami Dolphins (-7), Kansas City Chiefs (-7) and Houston Texans (-3.5) all winning by two touchdowns or more as favorites.
“They bet Minnesota a little, the Patriots were involved in a lot of teasers and parlays, they bet the Chiefs,” Avello said. “The Dolphins got bet. The Houston Texans was a bad game for us.”
Three other games worked out well for The Wynn, including the New Orleans Saints ripping the Green Bay Packers 44-23 on Sunday Night Football as 1.5-point home favorites. Avello knew he was going to lose money if that primetime game went OVER, but bettors still lost backing the Packers.
“We lost on the over, the (side) turned out ok,” Avello said. “Overall, that game turned out alright. We made a few bucks on that game.”
The Arizona Cardinals winning 24-20 against the Philadelphia Eagles despite closing as 1-point home underdogs after opening -3, and the Seattle Seahawks falling on the opening number in a 13-9 road victory over the Carolina Panthers also helped out The Wynn.
“The Eagles game, there was money on both sides,” Avello said. “We did take some late Eagle money to have more on the Eagles than the other side. We opened Seattle 4, they won by 4, that game got bet up to 6.”